Ingram Micro will be laying off 550 employees and offshoring customer service, finance, inside sales and other operations, according to this CRN article. The president of North American operations, Keith Bradley, is quoted as saying, “When we are through this transition, it will lend itself to us becoming a more flexible structure… By the time we're finished, we'll end up with a more cost-effective business structure. We regard ourselves more as the leader in the value-added area, and this is about how we can be as productive as possible and get the most bang for our buck."
In a refreshingly frank interview, Mr. Bradley says:
We have a corporate governance model to make sure we manage the transition aggressively… We don't just ramp up tomorrow. We will have associates from the partner on-site in our location to learn the way we do things and to make sure they know our culture. Also, a number of our associates may go overseas to help in the process. We will have teams on-site for an extended, parallel time. We will only sever the cord once we are satisfied service levels will not be impacted definitely.
The article says the organization expects to save enough money to pay off the transition expenses within 18 months.
